Nokia's Ovi Store Offers Competition for Apple, RIM

Nokia released a slew of information from the CTIA Wireless 2009 show in Las Vegas, all of it relating to the Ovi Store, which will open in May.

Ovi Store is an application mart that will include social-networking features and location-based services. Nokia first introduced it at the 2009 Mobile Work Congress in Barcelona.

First on Nokia’s CTIA news list was that it’s working with the “Heroes” television show creator Tim Kring to create content for the Ovi Store. Code-named TEVA, the project is a multiplatform narrative that offer an “immersive experience” into elements of the show.

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Secondly, Nokia is calling 2009 the “Year of the Mobile Computer” and focusing on the idea that “social location” is key to making mobile computers truly personal.

Third on the agenda is a Point & Find application, still in beta: users can point their mobile phone camera at an object, such as the bar code of a product, to pull up more information.

With a movie-focused version — available for download here — Point & Find users can click on a movie poster to watch trailers, read reviews and find show times.

The Ovi Creative wall, a fourth bit of news, is an illustration that’s been updated throughout the show by London artist Stevie Gee, who has lent his design to the Paul Smith line. The evolving art work was commissioned to represent the “fast-changing nature of Web 2.0” and plays to Nokia’s marketing tag: “Your life. Connected.”

Worried about the carbon footprint you made, getting to the CTIA show? Nokia is demonstrating its Green Explorer service at the show. Green Explorer offers tips for making earth-friendly travel decisions, such as sustainable methods of traveling and finding eco-focused accommodations, as well as how to offset one’s CO2 footprint.

Green Explorer is available as a downloadable widget from Nokia devices, or by visiting the site, which is also still in beta.

With the Ovi Store, Nokia will be competing against the wildly successful Apple App Store. Research In Motion also announced that its BlackBerry App World is now open for business.